Great videos. I admit this is something we need to work on. Going from a 90lbs. GSD to 30lbs. collies made me lazy with loose leash walking. I have Turid Rugaas' book "My Dog Pulls. What Do I Do?" and one of the most important things I learned was that I need to be consistent and train every day for a month and that is where I have made my biggest mistake. I trained well for about a week and a half and Tasha and Mattie are better on lead but not where I want them to be.

I loved her talk about Flexi Leads. I do have them for my dogs but rarely use them. Mine are the tape not the string and I got the leads that were rated at least double the weight of my collies. I used the Flexi Leads on vacation at the beach since my kids had never been to a beach and I didn't know how they would react. So I think Flexis have their place but I think they are overused and abused by most people (don't get me started on the guy at Petsmart with two huskies on Flexis..... ).

Also, I was told that my GSD wouldn't pull my daughter around if I used a Gentle Leader. I don't like to be a know it all but I knew it wouldn't work. At the time my kid was only 70lbs. (soaking wet) and the dog was bigger, and with four feet, much stronger. Sure enough my kid took the dog into the agility ring and my GSD tucked his head to his chest and pulled my kid all over the place so a Gentle Leader isn't necessarily the answer.....This is why we got Tasha, my kid needed a dog that wanted to do agility.

Now that's an accent I understand LOL. She has been around for a while, I like how she has the Mal trained to pull on cue for the sake of the demonstration.
TMM I agree, the gentle leader is absolutely hopeless for a Shepherd, I don't like them for any dog really. I also don't like that they can hold pressure to one side when in use on a dog that is trying to pull, can't be good for the neck.
I have used a martingale collar and still do on Jasper. They can and are meant to be used for a correction which is an aversive method but when adjusted correctly and used with the techniques in the video, just the noise of the chain moving through the loops alerts the dog that they are starting to apply too much pressure and we are going to stop or turn around, so they start to self correct. There need not be anymore firmness or pressure than there would be with a normal flat collar. Many a dog trainer would tell me I am not using it correctly ( and I'm not) and it will not work but I have had success with it. I don't use a martingale long term and agree that if any device is the "thing" that stops the pulling then the training is not happening correctly.
I agree TMM you have to be consistent and patient, I think a mistake that is often made is to think if a method hasn't worked in a week or so then it isn't going to work. You often hear, "I have tried this and that and this and that and nothing works", then you discover that all those things were tried within a week or so.

Well I guess I do every thing exactly wrong. Thank God my dogs have all been smart enough to figure it out through my erroneous efforts. We use comphy halter tops not choke collars. We sue telescoping leashes and I dont even know if we own a regular one. As we walk we let our dogs range and sniff and well have fun. When they get to the end of the rope we give it a tug and say no, when they walk by us they get patted and talked to. They hardly ever hit the end of the rope only in the event of a squirrel or friend they havent seen lately and a sharp tug and no works even then. Obviously all that is way wrong but what the heck we are happy.

A martingale is not a choke collar. It's actually specifically designed to NOT be a choke collar. Cappy perhaps you are confusing it with a check chain which is a very different design and is sometimes referred to as a choke collar by some people and can in deed have a choking effect, not good. It is however designed to be used with a correction such as you describe Cappy, "give it a tug" but as I said, I actually prefer not to use it that way.

As you can see from the photo (modeled on my daughter's wrist) it can only tighten so far before it stops so it isn't anything like a choke chain. Adjusted properly the collar doesn't choke the dog, it fits snugly around the neck. They are often used on sighthounds (Greyhounds, Whippets, etc.) because these dogs have very slim necks and heads and can easily slip out of a traditional collar. When I first got Mattie she was easily frightened by any loud noise and would fight and try to run away. In order to keep her safe I used this collar along with a harness and two leashes whenever I took her out. Some of these collars have chain on the upper part (I don't like those simply because I can't stand the sound of the metal links) but when tightened the chain isn't in contact with the dog's skin.